Sri Lanka arrests 'illegal migrants'

The Sri Lankan navy arrested 260 men on Thursday who it says were trying to leave the island illegally.

They said the men, all Sri Lankan nationals, were on a fishing trawler bound for Italy.

The trawler was stopped off the island's northwestern coast after being detected by naval gunboats.

The authorities believe Sri Lanka is often used as a transit point for the smuggling of illegal immigrants from the subcontinent to Europe.